Andy Holding's Monday Racing Tips

VOCATUS (best price 13-2) maybe 0-6 on the all-weather and has been beaten in a seller and a claimer on his last two starts, but his speed figures suggest he’s right up there with some of the main players here this evening and for that reason he makes plenty of appeal from an each-way perspective back in handicap company.

Showing plenty of resolve once headed by the eventual winner Across The Nile over the extended mile at tonight’s track two starts ago, Michael Appleby’s gelding was ridden in a totally different fashion on his return visit three weeks later and although the finishing position was the same, the clock pointed towards one of his career highs. To prove the point, the winner, Le Reveur, was forced to run the final three furlongs in a similar time frame to those contesting the sprint races on the same card, so it’s pretty clear the six-year-old’s engines are at full throttle at present. On the evidence of that effort 13 days ago, a hold up ride over tonight’s trip suits him best, so providing Luke Morris goes out and executes those tactics, the son of Vocalised should be somewhere on the scene at the business end.

PALAVECINO (best price 7-2) has developed into a proper all-weather specialist over the years and this ever-reliable six-year-old can prove that you can’t beat raw class when it comes to these kind of handicaps.

When you look at some of the names he’s run against, such as Bangkok, Dubai Warrior, Loxley, Armory, Sangarius and Sinjaari, it puts into perspective the levels of achievement he’s reached compared to all of his rivals here tonight and as it was all too plain to see on his latest encounter at Lingfield, he was just simply too good for his three opponents in a fairly weakly-contested Class 2 handicap. Dropped to a mark of 101 at the Surrey venue, Brian Meehan’s inmate readily took advantage and even when you consider he’s now back up to 104, it’s worth noting he’s actually performed well off 109 in the past. The only negative you could offer would be that fact he’s yet to race over tonight’s track but, as he’s been pretty versatile over the years on an array of surfaces, the son of Cacique settles the mind on that score.